the problem today is that ‘parenthood is no longer lasting as long as childhood‘ — that our children need parents to be intimately involved, moment-by-moment, not till they are only four years old and leave home for school and possible peer dependency, but they need us to be parents until they are fourteen years old and older…. “We need to hold on to our children and help them hold on to us. We need to hold on to them until our work is done,” writes Dr. Neufeld“We need to hold on, not to hold them back but so that they can venture forth.”

Where two or three are gathered, there He is also. What I love most about the homeschooling lifestyle is that we are all together, in all our glorious mess, day in and day out. We are not time-torn or fragmented. We are gathered. There is no dichotomy between God and secular: we are making a one-piece life. This works for us. We are real, transparent, and growing –sometimes painfully– with each other, season upon season, and God is in the center, bathing us sin-scraped ones with His Grace. That’s rich.

Because homeschooling is this magnificent crucible, to reveal impurities and sinfulness and brokenness. It keeps us on our knees. Homeschooling often hurts and disappoints. You cry and wonder if you are insane to try to educate these children, to disciple these little hearts, while laundering, cooking, cleaning, managing a household, and still being a wife, a sister, a daughter, a missionary in your community, a servant to Christ and in your faith community. And He smiles and say that He walks with you, has grand and glorious purposes, and He understands radical and crazy!

Homeschooling is about going higher up and deeper in, for you learn to sacrificially love in ways you have never loved before. You come to know your own heart in ways you never imagined, the souls of your children in intimate, very real ways.

For you will be together, making memories together, laughing together, crying together, praying together, and asking forgiveness together. Throughout your day, you worship God, together. And you learn to die-to-self together. It’s about doing hard things… together. And there will be no fragmented scraps of learning, home-life, friends, work, God.

six years agoon mother's daythe joy began insidethe naive joy of "motherhood"unaware of what's to comebut expecting the best

and nowsix years laterthe joy continuesno longer naivevery much aware of the rollercoasterthat is "motherhood"but i AM calledthis IS His plan for meand number threeis proofof His faithfulnessof His love for His childrenand added blessing

what deep joywhat persistent hopewhat a blessingmotherhood is my callingi am not perfect at itmany days i am certainmy children deserve betterbut we press onseeking His faceleaning on His gracewe unite as a familyto become better in spite of our failure

six years ago the flicker of joy ignitedand now...as this little one growsbigger and stronger dailyso does my joyin the blessing of three livesthat have been given to mewho are my callingthat make me "mummy"